Riverwest Fest rocks to the end of the world

Bryan Wysocki (left) and Eddie Chapman of Eaten by Trees kick off the festivities at the Jackpot Gallery, one of several locations in Riverwest where local bands were showcased during Riverwest Fest on Friday night. Credit: Gary Porter

If it was the end of the world as we know it, the bands and spectators at Riverwest Fest appeared to feel fine.

Contrary to the Mayan calendar, the world did in fact not come to an end on Friday (as of this story's 10 p.m. deadline anyway), so plans for the third annual local music bash proceeded as planned. The two-day event's grown to be one of the largest showcases of music in the city; by the time the fest wraps up Saturday, about 66 bands should have played nine different venues.

School's out: Thursday night art space Jackpot Gallery (established by fest co-founders Kelsey Kaufmann and Sean Heiser) hosted a pre-fest kickoff/art show, showcasing dozens of primarily handmade fliers from Milwaukee shows over the years. Friday before kickoff, Kaufmann was running around, getting PAs over to Rio West Cantina and collecting cash from patrons . . . but she still had time for an afternoon card game at Uptowner. The first set started about an hour late, but Kaufmann wasn't stressed. "I just finished school yesterday," she said, completing the last final for her very last semester at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, so she was feeling pretty great.

The first gig: "All right, we're Eaten by Trees," Bryan Wysocki muttered into the mic with indifference, officially kicking off the fest an hour late. Coupled with guitarist Eddie Chapman's appearance (heel peeling off his shoe, tattered hole in the seat of his pants) this guitar-drum duo seemed to personify the twentysomething slacker hipster stereotype. But then they played - a noisy, hard-core arsenal of drums and riffing, interspersed with moody melodic passages - and the sight of Chapman rocking on his toes and Wysocki screaming until his face turned red suggested they weren't jaded, just saving their energy.

Music for global annihilation: "This is an apocalyptic song right here," singer-songwriter Joe Huber said before playing "Can't You See a Flood's A-Comin' " at People's Books Cooperative. But the world kept spinning as he ended the set with festive bluegrass-style "Iron Rail" off his June album "Tongues Fire," triggering a drum pedal that tapped into a suitcase he was sitting on with his left foot and stomping a tambourine with his right foot.

Double duty: Over at brand new art space Cocoon Room, Doors-swinging quartet Calliope played as a trio. Bass player John Larkin was recuperating from a scheduled operation, and so taking a page from the Doors' Ray Manzarek, vocalist Al Kraemer played keys with his right hand and a piano bass with his left. After a killer set, he gave his arms a deserved break . . . before Kraemer and fellow vocalist and guitarist Victor Buell had to head down the street to play Linneman's Rockpoclypse as part of their other band, the Delta Routine.

A new kind of basement show: Basement gigs are commonplace in Riverwest, but not at Rio West Cantina, which hosted a public gig in its festive basement party room for the first time Friday, after Kaufmann pitched the idea to manager Jesus Romero. "We want to be part of the Riverwest community," he said as hard-core band Alta rocked through a sweaty set in the room below him. "If we get the opportunity to do more shows, why not?"